Resident Faculty
Heidi Frankard, PhD
Dr. Frankard is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Metropolitan State University and is currently the coordinator of the early childhood studies major. She earned her BA in Psychology from St. Cloud State University, MS in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University, and PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University. Dr. Frankard's research interests include social and emotional development of young children, peer conflict resolution, childhood aggression, war play in early childhood classrooms, and professional development in early childhood.
Kelly Hazel, PhD
Dr. Hazel has been a long time advocate of Community Psychology and is an internationally recognized scholar in the field. She received a BS in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of Michigan-Flint, and her PhD from the Ecological-Community Psychology program at Michigan State University. She was on the faculty at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for ten years where she taught Master's level students as well as undergraduates. She joined the faculty at Metropolitan State University in 2002. Dr. Hazel's early research focused on program evaluation in areas as diverse as forest recreation and natural resources management to mental health and developmental disabilities services delivery systems. In Alaska, her research and intervention interests focused on issues of health and wellness within Alaskan villages, especially issues related to the prevention of substance abuse, sobriety, and the prevention of AIDS and other deadly diseases. She has strong interests in women's issues, indigenous cultures, liberatory ethics and social/community change. Dr. Hazel teaches the graduate program's core courses on Community Psychology theory and applications and undergraduate courses on Diversity and Ethics, Community Psychology, and Psychology of Women.
August John Hoffman, PhD
Dr. Hoffman is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at Metropolitan State University and serves as the coordinator of the graduate program in psychology. He earned his BA from UC Santa Barbara, MA from Radford University in Clinical Psychology (with an emphasis in Sport Psychology), and PhD from UCLA in educational psychology. As a former professor of psychology at Compton College, CSU Northridge, and Pepperdine University, he has assisted students from various educational backgrounds in accomplishing their goals. He began and developed a highly successful gardening program at Compton College in an effort to help students improve their campus and community. Dr. Hoffman's current research projects at Metropolitan State University include the development of a community rain garden at the St. Paul campus and a community vegetable garden with the First Lutheran Church in St. Paul. Current research interests also include community service work and student mentoring as effective methods to reduce ethnic conflict and improve self-efficacy among community college students. For the last five years Dr. Hoffman has conducted research combining outdoor gardening work with Metropolitan State University students with community members. Students generally appreciate the ability to engage in community service work and see how psychological theory applies itself within the community with community members;
Kerry S. Kleyman, PhD
Dr. Kleyman received a BA in psychology from Metropolitan State University in '04 and a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno (with a concentration in social perception, political and cross-cultural psychology) in '10. Her past research has broadly focused on the influence of stereotypical stimuli on perceptions of racially ambiguous individuals. She is currently conducting research in the areas of perception of race, and nutrition in elderly populations. Other interests include: interracial and multiracial relationships, transracial adoptions, culture & political participation, and race & political leadership. Dr. Kleyman has taught courses in General Psychology, Quantitative Research Methods, Social Psychology, Personality, Diversity and Ethics, Diversity in Children, and will soon be teaching Political Psychology and Cross-Cultural Psychology. Dr. Kleyman is a SQIN (Special Qualification in Nutrition) Fellow at UNR Medical School, has attended the Summer Institute in Political Psychology at Stanford, and has received training in Structural Equation Modeling at KU. She is a member of several psychological organizations, and currently serves as the Psychology Club co-Advisor at Metropolitan State University.
Caitlin O. Mahoney, PhD
Dr. Mahoney received her BA in psychology from Siena College '03 and a PhD in Social, Evolutionary & Cultural Psychology from Clark University (with a concentration in societal peace and conflict) '08. Her past research has broadly focused on the relationship between emotions and political behaviors. She is currently studying the relationship between joy, compassion, and altruistic responses to distant others (those we have never met). Other interests include: Positive psychology; pro-social behaviors; virtue; psychical distance & interpersonal closeness; authenticity. Mahoney has taught courses in General Psychology, Quantitative & Qualitative Research Methods, Social Psychology, Group Dynamics, & Peace Psychology. She serves as the Internet Editor for the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence (APA Div 48 - www.peacepsych.org).
Susan Rydell, PhD
Dr. Rydell received her BA in social psychology from Smith College, and her PhD in psychology through the University of Minnesota's Center for Personality Research. She was a postdoctoral associate in the University of Minnesota's Center for Research in Human Learning, Memory and Cognition. Research interests have included corrections education, adults as learners, and curriculum evaluation. Her current interest in the area of early childhood professional development stems from her Head Start research for the Rand Corporation and InterStudy's Day Care Policies Study Group. She is a charter faculty member of Metropolitan State University where she established the Psychology Department and was the initial architect for the Psychology Lab and the Student Counseling Center. She has been a member of the State of Minnesota Labor-Management Committee on Health Plans since 1986, and served as president of the Minnesota Psychological Association (MPA) for three years. She is the present editor of the Minnesota Psychologist and chair of the MPA Education and Training Committee which plans the Friday Forums and a number of other major conferences and programs. She is a frequent consultant and reviewer for higher education institutions and other organizations, and has reviewed programs in Canada, Japan, Austria, and Switzerland. She teaches Personnel and Industrial Psychology for the psychology graduate program.
Glen Spielmans, PhD
Dr. Spielmans earned a PhD in clinical/counseling/school psychology (adult clinical emphasis) at Utah State University. He completed his predoctoral clinical psychology internship at the Indiana University Medical School in August 2004. Dr. Spielmans joined the faculty at Metropolitan State University in August 2006. He previously served as an assistant professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Fredonia from August 2004 - August 2006. His research interests include: psychotherapy outcomes, meta-analysis, the interface between marketing and science in promoting the use of psychiatric medications, health psychology interventions, and principles of evidence-based treatments. Dr. Spielmans has worked with many undergraduate students on research projects, many of which have resulted in conference presentations and/or publications. He serves as the research updates section editor and editorial board member for The Carlat Psychiatry Report, a monthly newsletter for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. Dr. Spielmans often teaches the following courses: abnormal psychology, research methods, clinical psychology, psychological testing, and behavior disorders in children.
Gary Starr, PhD
Dr. Starr earned his BA in psychology and human physiology, San Diego State University; MA and PhD in cognitive/experimental psychology, the Ohio State University, with major research emphases in learning, memory, auditory perception and language, brain and behavior, and problem solving; current position include serving as the psychology laboratory director, psychology department chair, and statewide union negotiator. Current research interests is directed at persuasion and negotiating strategies, impact of logic abilities in understanding science.
Mark Stasson, PhD
Dr. Stasson earned a PhD from the University of Illinois (Major in Social Psychology; minors in Quantitative and Industrial/Organizational psychology) and is interested in applications of social psychology to many applied contexts. His research has focused on social influence in groups: how group discussion and decision procedures affect decision making and problems solving, and how individuals' attitudes, opinions, and decision making strategies are affected by group interactions. He also conducts research on the relation between attitudes and behavior and on individual decision-making processes. Recently, his research has examined how individual differences such as individualism/collectivism and social regulation processes are related to motivation, social influence, and behavioral prediction. Dr. Stasson has advised many students at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels, and his primary teaching areas are social psychology, history & systems, data analysis, attitudes and social influence, environmental psychology, and research methods. He teaches the graduate course on Attitudes and Social Influence.
